Multimedia communications systems, with capabilities for voice, data, audio and video, are becoming the standard. Such systems incorporate traditional voice communications, such as wireless and wire-line voice communications, traditional data communications and the Internet, and certain aspects of broadcast communication, most notably, video. At the backbone of such systems are circuit-switched network elements and packet-based network elements. Intermixing media in multimedia communications systems has not been fully exploited.
Text-to-speech conversion is one form of mixing media that exists today. There are various software programs that exist from MICROSOFT and others. Speech-to-text conversion also exists. And these algorithms and implementations are maturing over the years. Unfortunately, these technologies are employed in the computer rather than the telecommunications arts, which limits the applications of these technologies.
Therefore, a need exist for improved and enhanced multimedia communications systems that exploit speech-to-text and text-to-speech capabilities in telecommunications systems.